What About Me?
by Lara D
Summary: This is a Character Analysis Project for my music class. :) Little Red Riding Hood agrees to share her story of Into the Woods and provide some casual information about herself. (Some pieces of this are not true since the play did not completely share every single information about Red -things like where she's from and where her dad is and such is completely made up.) 1st POV


Lara D

September 28, 2012

Character Analysis Project: Little Red Riding Hood from Into the Woods

Hello, my name is Little Red Riding Hood, but people usually call me Red. I'm an eight year old female, and I'm about three feet and six inches tall -which is good for my age! I don't like to admit it, but I'm 56 pounds, which is a bit more "fuller" than a normal kid like me. I eat a lot, so maybe that's why I have a fat stomach _("Just a loaf of bread, please...And perhaps a sticky bun...Or four?...And a few of those pies, please..." p. 6). _My hair is really shiny; it's the color of amber. I have warm brown eyes and tannish skin since I go outside a lot. For amusement, I skip and dance around –it's fun to get dizzy until you feel like you're going to be sick. I also get hungry after something funny happens or is said; it's a weird thing, but I'm not a normal girl. I don't have a posture like a princess, but I'm no slouch either. People say I'm short, small, and childish which is really rude. I don't like people like that! Also, people who lie and ask me personal questions –like where my grandmother lives- really irk me. That's why I carry around a knife now.

Anyways, I don't have any allergies or any scars -asides from the ones I got from walking in the forests' sawgrass. I'm an outdoor person -I liked visiting my grandmother in the forest. My grandmother was amazing. I lived with my mom -my dad disappeared a while ago. He went into another town and never came back. I don't know much about him -my grandma and mother didn't tell me anything. I know I don't come from a line of royalty, though. I'm part of the working society, so I guess you could say I am poor. Because of that, I'm not very educated. But I do think I'm intelligent -I have street-smarts...or should I say, woods-smart? Ha! Oh, I am so hungry... Anyways, I live and was born in the Fable Kingdom -our most known landmark is probably our woods. It's very big and filled with interesting stuff. Some people work there, but I don't. I am too young to work, but I bring food to my grandmother. Sometimes I would buy bread from the Baker, lying that it was for my grandmother, but really, it was for me _("It's not for me, it's for my granny in the woods. A load of bread, please-" p. 6). _I would buy bread for my mom when we had enough money. It was sort of hard for my mom to raise me without my dad. Fortunately, even though my dad was gone, I still had my grandma and my mom. I love them so much; we are a tight-knit family -I don't have any siblings living with me by the way. Well, I guess Jack is sort of my brother. Ever since the whole incident, he's become my best friend.

I think I have a lot of good and bad things about myself. I'm sometimes scared and naive, but I can be tough, strong, and optimistic. I'm also a very outgoing and outdoorsy person! I think my red cape is my beat feature -well before it was ruined... I know, I keep mentioning "before" and "the incident". I also seem to mention my family in past tense, don't I? Well, a while ago, I asked Baker for food for Grandma one day. Then I went into the woods and met the Wolf. He asked me where I was going, and I told him where Grandma's house was and that I was going there (_"A good quarter of a league further in the Woods; her house stands under three large oak trees." p. 28_)_!_ Had I known that would've been a stupid idea… While I was walking, the Baker tries to steal my cape _("I want it badly!", Baker, p. 39_), and it was quite rude. I didn't let him, though, so I kept going to Grandma's house. Oh, it was so terrifying –the Wolf was there, and he had eaten Granny and pretended to be her, then ate _me!_ It was disgusting and gross –I really thought I was going to die. Then, bewilderingly, the Baker comes and opens the Wolf's stomach and frees us! Granny got really mad at the Wolf and cut him up. I gave the Baker my cloak as a token of gratitude –that man was very happy. After Granny cut the Wolf, she gave me his skin as a new cloak _("My granny made it for me from a wolf that attacked us." p. 84)_! Oh it was so wonderful and so very soft. But after the incident with the Wolf, I knew that no cloak would be able to protect me. _("In a cape and a hood –they will not protect you." p. 45) _After that, I brought a knife with me –everywhere. I thought that problem with the wolf would be my lesson –there were worse things ahead! For I was annoyed –did everyone want to steal my cloak? I met Jack and he admires my cloak (_"What a beautiful cape!" p. 84_), but I'm very cautious this time. I pull out my knife, which makes him walk back. I didn't want anything else to happen, so I ran off. I later come home to find that my home has been blown down by the wind and my mother gone, so I get items that weren't crushed, and go to Grandma's house. On my way, I find that the Baker's house is also blown down –very strange. When I mentioned I couldn't find my mother, he and his wife looked horrified… it wasn't until later that I realized that it was no mere wind, but a giant.

The Baker, his wife, and Cinderella help me to look for my Granny, but I panic when we can't find her. (_"Where's the stream? Where's the lily pond? Where's Granny?" p. 130_) I despair when I realize that the giant had killed my mother and my grandmother! It was so horrible… everyone except the Baker, his child, Jack, Cinderella, and I survived. We worked together to kill the giant and succeeded (we lured the Giant towards a tower, and Jack clubbed her over the head!), but so many lives were lost in the process. I still miss my family. I never really overcame this obstacle –I want them back dearly, but we did overcome the giant crisis. It wasn't an exactly happily ever after, but it wasn't a horrible, unfortunate ending–Jack and I were adopted by the Baker, and now all of us have created a new family. Because of these events, I want to be some sort of teacher -a person who helps people understand and teaches them life-long lessons before it's too late, like what happened to my grandma and mother. But even though I lost them, I got a new family that I love -the Baker and his baby, Jack, and Cinderella, and I think that's what's really important. Hopefully this has helped you to get a better understanding of my character.


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